Wings in the Dark

Chapter 25: Silence Broken

*Levi's POV*

When he finally got his eyes to open, it was bright enough to instantly send a lance of pain through his head, eyes squinting, nearly shutting as he tried to give himself the chance to adjust. While he was waiting for the light to no longer be painful, his fingers curled again around the warm weight enveloping his hand, fingers brushing slightly along the backs of two fingers that were pressed inside his wrist. Keeping track of his pulse, most likely.

It took him a few moments, and his body protested the effort, as if it was telling him it would be much easier just to go back to sleep, but his eyes started adjusting to the natural light in the room, opening a centimeter at a time until he was blinking bleary to clear the hazy film that blurred his vision, eyelids still heavy and not open wide, but able to look around the room.

The first thing he saw wasn't the ceiling, because he was apparently lying on his side, but instead was his nightstand in his bedroom, currently cluttered with a bowl with a damp rag folded and draped over the edge, a pitcher of water, what he assumed was an empty cup, and a familiar sketchpad and collection of sketching supplies.

Y/N.

He didn't have the strength to lift his head, which was frustrating, especially because he knew if he couldn't even do that he couldn't be able to turn over or anything like that. Since he was restricted, the best he could do to search his surroundings was let his gaze wander, eyes travelling downwards to the weight he could feel beside him on the bed, down where one of his hands was lying enveloped in another--the other hand resting near his face on the pillow.

It was Y/N who was holding onto his hand--in her sleep, apparently. She was sitting next to the bed in a chair that she must have found and brought over, her head resting atop her folded arms, hair shielding her face even though her head was turned in his direction. Her fingers were enclosed around his hand, which was easily in reach of her hand even with the position she'd taken up in order to sleep--she didn't even have to stretch out to reach him. Two of her fingers were resting atop the inside of his wrist, placed right over the veins in his arm to feel for a pulse.

How long had she been here? How long had he been here?

He tried to speak to get her attention, though all he managed was a muffled sound that seemed like he'd been holding back a word before suddenly letting out a sharp exhale. At that point he realized his mouth and throat was dry, lips chapped, tongue heavy, and there were lingering echoes of pain around his chest. Even breathing felt like a demanding effort.

Unable to get himself to speak--and even if he did, he doubted it would be loud enough even for her to hear in her sleeping state--Levi tried to reach out a different way to get her attention, seeking answers and a bit of reassurance, even though he wasn't going to be obvious about the latter. His fingers twitched, curling weakly around her hand a little more as his index finger started to lightly stroke along the side of her hand--it was the best he could do at the moment, so he was hoping that the light touch was going to be enough to wake her.

It took a few minutes--long enough that Levi sincerely thought he was going to fall unconscious again before she woke up. Thankfully, the gentle touch against her hand eventually got her to stir, and once she started to stir and became more aware of the world around her, she woke up a little faster. As she opened her eyes with a slow flutter, confusion settled over her eyes like a hazy film, head starting to lift and hand twitching slightly around his as she tried to process what was going on. Her gaze settled on their interlocked hands so she could see the finger gently brushing against the side of her hand, and once she noticed that repeated, conscious movement, her gaze lifted sharply to his face to see his heavily lidded eyes staring back at her.